and righteousness," that they were "obstinate, and their neck an iron sinew, and their brow brass." And Christian children often become like those miserable persons by sinning wilfully, and refusing to repent and confess their sin when they have an opportunity.

THE LADY AND THE CHILD.

ONCE upon a time, there lived on the borders of a great forest a woodcutter, with his wife and his only child, who was a little girl of three years old. They were so poor that they could scarcely earn their daily bread, and did not know what to give their child to eat. One day the poor woodcutter went out into the wood to his work, and his heart was full of care and trouble. And as he was hewing the branch of a tree, there stood before him a tall and beautiful lady, who was dressed in white, and wore around her head a circle of glittering stars. And as he looked up, astonished, she said to him, "I am the Lady Gabrielle; I live a long way from here, and my greatest pleasure is to help the friendless. I know that you are poor and needy, and have nothing to give your child to eat. If you will bring her to me, I will take her home, and be a mother to her, and will take the greatest care of her." The poor woodcutter obeyed, without answering a word. He went at once to fetch his child, and gave her into the hands of the lady, who carried her off to her fair palace far away.

After this, everything went well with the woodcutter and his wife they had plenty of bread to eat, and sweet milk to drink, and good clothes to keep them warm, all the year round. Sometimes, too, there came voices to them in their sleep, which whispered to them that their child was well and happy, and so they were comforted and thankful.

Now when some years had passed away, the Lady Gabrielle called the child to her, and said, "My dear child, I am going to take a long journey, and I shall give you the keys of the thirteen doors of my palace, to keep till I come back. You may open twelve of them, and look at all the fine things which you will see within, but the thirteenth, which is opened by this little key, you must on no account unlock. Remember that it is forbidden to you to do so, for if you disobey this command, you will certainly become very unhappy. The child promised to be obedient, and when the lady was gone, she set to work to examine all the different apartments in the palace. Every day she opened a new door, until she had seen all the twelve. In some there were people moving to and fro with white garments, like those of the Lady Gabrielle, and in some there was such sweet music of harps and

lutes as the child delighted to listen to, but all were so full of dazzling silver light, that her eyes could scarcely bear to look upon it, and she quickly closed the door again, rejoicing in all the wonders she had seen. When nothing remained but the forbidden door, she felt the greatest desire to know what could be concealed within it; and she said to herself, "I will not quite open it, but I will just move it a very little bit, that I may be able to look through the chink." "No, no," answered her conscience, “that would be a sin; the Lady Gabrielle has forbidden it, and perhaps it would bring you great unhappiness." Then she gave it up for a time, but the longing and curiosity in her heart would not be quiet, but seemed to prick her continually, and left her no rest. She thought to herself, "no one will know that I have done it; I am quite alone, and no one can see me:" and so at last she went to fetch the key, put it into the door, and turned the lock. Hardly had she done so, when the door sprang open, and a great flood of golden light fell upon her, like a blaze of glory, so that she could not see. Then she was full of fear, and with all her might she shut the door again, and ran away, but not before one of her fingers had caught some of the blazing light, and was covered with gold. The trouble and fear in her heart remained there still, and made it beat so fast and loud that it could be heard, and the gold also stayed upon her finger, and would not come off, rub and wash it as much as she might.

After a few days the Lady Gabrielle came home from her journey, and she called the child to her, and asked for the keys of the thirteen doors. As the child gave her the bunch, she looked her steadily in the face, and said, “Have you not opened the thirteenth door also?" "No," answered the child, "I have not." Then she laid her hand on the child's heart, and felt how it was beating, and knew that she had disobeyed the command, and had opened the forbidden door. But she asked her once again whether she was certain that she had not done it; and the child answered the second time, "I have not." The lady then looked at the finger which had become golden by the touch of the blazing light, and so she was quite sure that the child was guilty, and she said to her the third time, "Have you not done as you were forbidden to do?" And the child answered for the third time, "No." Then the Lady Gabrielle said, "You have not obeyed me, and you have spoken that which is not true, you are no longer worthy to remain in my palace." So the child sank into a deep sleep, and when she awoke, she found herself lying alone on the ground, in the midst of a thick wilderness. She tried to cry out, but not a sound could she make; she got up, and tried to run away, but whichever way she turned, she was stopped by thickly-tangled trees and bushes, which she could not break through. She was quite enclosed in a little circle, within which stood a tall, old hollow tree, that served

her for a habitation. She slept in it at night, and when it rained, and the winds blew, she found shelter there. Roots and woodberries were her only food, and she hunted for them all round as far as she could reach. In the autumn, she collected all the leaves of the tree, and carried them into the hollow, and when it snowed or froze, she hid herself under them. Her clothes wore away little by little, and hung in rags about her, but her hair grew very long, and fell around her like a mantle. And when the sun shone warm again, and she went out and sat at the foot of her tree, it lay on the ground beside her in shining folds. So she sat day by day, and sorrow and misery lay heavily upon her heart.

Now it came to pass, in the spring-time, as the king of the country was hunting in the wood, that the game which he was following, ran into the thicket which surrounded the hollow tree, so the king dismounted, pushed the bushes aside, and cut a way through them with his sword. When he had succeeded in pushing through them, he saw sitting under the tree a very beautiful child, covered from head to foot with golden hair. He looked at her with such astonishment that he could not speak; at last, he asked her how it was that she came to be in that wilderness. The child, however, remained quite silent, for she had not the power to open her mouth. Then the king asked her if she were willing to go with him to his castle. She nodded her head a very little, but spoke not a word. The king, therefore, took her by the hand, and leading her to his horse, lifted her upon it, and carried her home to his castle, where he caused her to be well clothed and fed, and gave her everything she liked to have. And the child grew up, and though she could not speak, she was so very beautiful, and so good and gentle, that the king loved her very much, and at last he married her. Now it came to pass a year afterwards, as the queen was lying still üpon her bed one night, and her little son, who was only a few days old, was sleeping beside her, the Lady Gabrielle appeared to her, and said, "If you will now speak the truth, and confess that you opened the forbidden door, I will unseal your mouth, and you shall be able to speak again, but if you persist in your sin, and obstinately repeat the falsehood, I will take your new-born son, and carry it away with me." Then the queen was given the power of answering, and she said, “No, I have not opened the forbidden door;" and immediately the Lady Gabrielle took her little child from her side, and disappeared with it as she came.

The next morning, when the child was not to be found, there was great murmuring in the palace, and amongst all the people, and they said that the queen was a murderess, and had destroyed her own child. She heard all they said, and had no power to answer them, but the king loved her so much that he refused to believe it.

A year passed away, and the queen had another son, and in the

night the Lady Gabrielle appeared to her again as she had done before, and said, "If you will now confess that you opened the forbidden door, I will give you your child back again, and will unseal your mouth; but if you persist in your sin, and lie yet once more, I will take your second new-born son away with me." Then the queen spoke, and repeated her former words, " No, I did not open the forbidden door." So the lady took her little child out of her arms, and carried it off. In the morning, when the people heard that this child also had disappeared, they said openly that the queen had murdered it, and the council met, and were proceeding to condemn her to death. But the king loved her still too well to permit it, and he commanded the council, under the severest penalties, to say no more about it. And in the course of the third year after, a beautiful little daughter was born to the queen; and again the lady appeared to her by night, but this time she only said, "Follow me ;" and, taking her by the hand, led her to her own fair palace, where she saw her two eldest children laughing and playing happily together. And as the lady showed them to her, and the queen was joyful at the sight, she said, "If you will now confess that you opened the forbidden door, I will give your two dear little sons back to you again." But the queen answered for the third time, "No, I did not open the door." "And as she spoke, she found herself again in her own home, and her little daughter was taken away.

The next morning, when it became known that this child also was lost, the people cried out with one voice that the queen was a murderess and must be condemned to death; and the king could no longer prevail on his parliament to be silent. She was, therefore, brought to trial, and not being able to answer, or make any excuse for herself, she was sentenced to be burnt to death. The wood was brought, everything was prepared, and the unhappy queen fastened to the stake, but when she saw the fire burning around her, and coming nearer every instant, her heart was touched at last with repentance for her sin, and she thought, "oh, if I could but confess, before I die, that I opened the forbidden door ;" and she cried out before them all, "Yes, lady, I did it." The moment that the thought came into her heart, it began to rain so heavily that the fire was quite extinguished, and the Lady Gabrielle appeared before her, carrying her infant daughter in her arms, and followed by her two little sons. "Those who repent and confess their sins," she said, kindly, are forgiven;" and so she gave the queen back her children, restored to her the power of speech, and promised her that her life should be happy for ever.

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Notices of Books.

The Cabinet.